International Criminal Responsibility For Hostile Cyber Operations During Contemporary Armed Conflicts

Abstract

Modern technological techniques prevail in today`s world and armed conflicts are no longer limited to the battlefields and traditional tools, but also created the fifth fields or what is know as "Cyber Space". And hostile cyber operations became an influential part of the methods of modern war (fifth generations war), in addition to traditional military operations in the fields of fighting. In light of this very rapid development of technology and modern technologies and employing them incorrectly during international and non- international contemporary armed conflicts, which is one of the most important challenges faced by international law in general and international humanitarian law in particular because it is explicitly contradicts its rules and principles that stipulate the protection of civilians notables and prohibits their targeting with random attacks that cause excessive suffering and unjustified pain. The legal and jurisprudential debate revolves around the extent of international criminal responsibility for these operations, the possibility of applying the traditional rules ruling international responsibility, and the implications of this on the possibility of classifying them as an international crime, the possibility of prosecution, trial, and the impact of the penalties due before the criminal international judiciary.